“Gangster Squad” has a lot of promise: it’s a true crime tale with a star-studded cast bathed in the dark shadows of film noir. Unfortunately, critics say the film is largely a case of style over substance, and beneath its stylish veneer lies a shopworn script and an excessive amount of violence. It’s the late 1940s, and Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the Los Angeles underworld with help from a cadre of crooked cops. That is, until straight-arrow lawmen John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) assemble a clandestine crew of LAPD officers to take Cohen down. “Gangster Squad” is currently at 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer; check out some of the reviews here. Read More »

The first few seconds of the trailer for “Gangster Squad” give viewers reason to worry. They show Sean Penn in a sweaty white tank top, throwing punches at a heavy bag. Could the 51-year old actor be starring in a boxing film? Tell us it isn’t so. Happily it isn’t. Penn quickly picks up a gun–this is a gangster film, and all is right with the world.

Drawing from “L.A. Confidential,” “Scarface,” “American Gangster,” “The Untouchables,” and probably a few dozen other mob hits, the new movie is a fictionalized take on the real-life efforts to bring down Mickey Cohen (played by Penn), a Los Angeles-based gangster who looked and probably sounded nothing like Penn, but whatever. Given that the trailer for the movie, set in the 1940s, features some hip-hop, it looks like the filmmakers are going for thrills ahead of verisimilitude. The star-laden movie also features Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Josh Brolin. Our favorite lines from the trailer: “Back east I was a gangster, out here I’m God.” “You are to make no arrests–this is off the books.” “Doesn’t seem right, that he should have so much while others have so little.” “Well, you gotta die of something.” “No ma’am, I was just hoping to take you to bed.” “A cop that’s not for sale is like a dog with rabies–you just gotta put him down.”

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.